How many 'Celtic' players aren't?

[whistler]

I'm Polish/Lithuanian/Ukrainian/German Jewish with a bit of N. German Protestant thrown in. I grew up in ('Germanic') England, although I now live in ('Celtic') Wales.

[danb]

German/French/English in my family tree..

[Shelagh Moore]

Irish and living in Scotland here. I grew up playing ITM and still do, plus Scottish and other "celtic" music, but my interest now is Old Time and Appalachian so a little bit the other way round for me!

[Fred G]

Irish/Scottish/German/French(dads side) English(moms side) here....One thing I was thinking about recently was that my ancestors came here early, around the revolution and were not city dwellers where people stayed within their own community. Mine were coal miners and farmers in Pennsylvania and obviously did not have a "marry your own kind" doctrine. Although on my mom's side, that did seem to be the case.

[Avi Ziv]

I am Jewish and Israeli and crazy about this music. It's a curiosity to some who play with me but not in a bad way.

[Bruce Evans]

I am an American. No, not native American as the term is currently used, but my lineage has been traced back to early american colonists. That and a penny will get me a ride on the supermarket pony.

My family name is Evans. That is Welsh in origin. Wales is a Celtic nation. Does that make me Celtic? My mothers maiden name was Hartung, which is German in origin. Extrapolating the lineage on the female side of my ancestry produces Scot and English names galore.

I am an American. I don't play Irish music because I am Irish. I play Irish music because I am a musician.

[steve V. johnson]

And how many Irish, nowadays, grow up with traditional music? Compared to the regular rounds of pop music and commercial stuff everyone is exposed to?.

In many parts of Ireland kids in the schools start on whistle at early ages and are brought up in the traditional music. When they're familiar with the various forms of the music they can choose their next instrument. In the Gaeltacht areas, where Irish is the first language, the national government supports language and traditional arts instruction early in the school programs, and there are other parts of the country which aren't officially Gaeltacht areas, in which Irish is widely spoken and which value traditional arts and keep them in their schools. We found places like the latter in the rural southwest.

We've been told that thru the '70's there was quite a backlash against trad music, as many folks in the cities felt that it was backward and 'country.' As many as fifteen million tourists visit Ireland between May and October each year, and traditional music is a significant attraction during that time. But even better (IMO), trad music accounts for a bigger portion of the folks who visit Ireland in the off-season, when players aren't hired to run sessions for tourists in the cutest pubs, but play where, when, and how they do anyway.

I'm sure that music education goes far beyond just the tradition in Irish schools, too, and we've heard some splendidly original contemporary music there as well.

Ethnically my wife and I are true American mongrels, and my lineage is legally obscured by my adoption (at birth). On our second trip to Ireland EVERYBODY, everywhere we went, would ask us,
"So, are you lookin' for your people here in Ireland?" We thought someone was calling ahead to make sure the next folks would ask us... Our reply was, 'No, we're just here to learn the music,'
and on the last day of our visit, finally, no one asked us, the only day w/o the inquiry. It was a real hoot. We just love the music, is all.

stv

[sgarrity]

My name is Shaun Garrity........need I say more? LOL My Great-Grandparents were straight off the boat.

[Jill McAuley]

I'm half Irish, half Korean. Grew up playing punk music because, like a fair amount of Dubs, I thought trad music was for country folk aka culchies. Got into trad in a big way after moving to East Galway in '02. My ma is tone deaf, though my gran was renowned for her singing voice. My da, who's from Korea, plays the ukelele and loves Johnny Cash, '50's music and the Beach Boys!

Cheers,
Jill

[EdSherry]

I'm 3/4 Irish, 1/4 Scots. I didn't grow up listening to the music; I came to it in a roundabout way, via folk and then bluegrass. I knoew a bunch of Clancy Brothers songs before I ever got into instrumental ITM.

While some of the folks at the sessions I play at are of Irish/Celtic ancestry, many are not.

[NickAlberty]

Italian and Cherokee here. Maybe in some weird way the Italian is why I play mandolin.
Who know.......?

[JeffD]

My genetic inheritance is irrelevant, except in how it limits my ultimate musical ability.

[Loretta Callahan]

Hey, Bertram, I didn't make the the "greek quote", it was Jock. I really know nothing about Greek or any other kid of European music. American music, yes, I know a few things.

Maybe the music we all seem to enjoy so much around here just traveled to the British Isles and took up residence there, figuring the locals would know how to take care of it ... who knows?

[chriss]

75% Irish, 25% British, a formula for internal conflict if there ever was one!

As bad or worse here... my dad was 100% pure-bred English, mom was Irish-Scottish
If that ain't a setup for fireworks ... don't get much better.

But the music is infectiously beautiful and joyful so let's have at it.

I also LOVE Italian folk music tarantellas, pizzicas mazurkas etc etc etc without a hint of Italian heritage that I'm aware of, so there you go.

[brunello97]

Mick Kennedy. But I'm Irish on my mother's side. My godparents were from Padua, Italy. St. Anthony is my patron. After my beautiful (German) wife my mandolin is my most constant companion. How lucky can a man be?

Mick

[Didge]

I'm English, Irish, Welsh, French, German, some Native American, and probably something else thrown in there for good measure. I've got brown hair with blond highlights, I tan red, I have what seems to be one of the most in-pronounceable German last names known to grocery-store clerks, and my DNA lights up like a Christmas tree whenever I hear a jig :D

[Bertram Henze]

Hey, Bertram, I didn't make the the "greek quote", it was Jock.

That's what you get when you rely on software. I just hit the "Reply with quote" button on Jock's post - no idea how the pointer to you came in.

[Tim2723]

What great responses! I didn't expect this much info from such a simple question. What a place.

The comment about your DNA lighting up when you hear Irish music intrigues me. Not only does that happen for me, though I haven't and Irish gene in my body, but oddly the opposite also happens for me. When the Klompendansen starts, my genetic Christmas tree shuts off. I feel guilty about not exploring my heritage, but I just can't get past that oompah. The folk music of the Netherlands just shuts me down. I think my mother was frightened by a tuba.

[Bertram Henze]

When the Klompendansen starts, my genetic Christmas tree shuts off. I feel guilty about not exploring my heritage, but I just can't get past that oompah. The folk music of the Netherlands just shuts me down. I think my mother was frightened by a tuba.

I know exactly what you mean

[Tim2723]

I console myself with the knowledge that I was born with a waterlogged, shriveled finger. (Think it through, think it through.)

[Dan Hulse]

That's funny Tim. Thanks I needed a laugh today. Great discussion btw.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I console myself with the knowledge that I was born with a waterlogged, shriveled finger. (Think it through, think it through.)

Sounds like someone needs a stroopwafel

[Loretta Callahan]

Yup, Bertram ... I know what you mean about software inserting what it wants to ... and we never know when.

I can also relate to Tim's Mom bring frightened by a Tuba. Waterlogged finger, eh? ...

In all fairness, the Scots/Irish have their own share of some of the most insipid and annoying musicians and music anywhere. I've gone into sugar shock watching Public Broadcasting, for example. I shall refrain from listing the musicians .... it's not nice.

[Tim2723]

Sounds like someone needs a stroopwafel

Ever try to plug a hole with a stroopwafel?

[allenhopkins]

Three-quarters English (with a touch of Norwegian from 125 years ago), one-quarter German. Ancestry traceable back to colonial times, which explains a Canadian family exile when the New Jersey ancestors voted "Tory" during the Revolution.

Over a long and mediocre career I've played bluegrass, blues, Celtic, klezmer, and a buncha other stuff. Ethnicity -- what's that?